Sade – Diamond Life

Welcome to the Album Nerds podcast with your hosts, Andy, Don, and Dude. Don, da-don-don. What's up? The Album Nerds podcast. I'm Dude. I got Andy and Don with me, of course. Andy, how you doing, my friend? Doing well, doing well. Just reminded of that bit from Ghostbusters where they all chime in with their names, you know? Ray Egon. Oh, Ray. Oh, yeah. When they're firing up their proton packs. Yes, the first time they all kind of hit that pitch. Yep. Come to harmony together.

Beautiful, beautiful moment in cinematic history. Don, how you doing? Good. I'm all lathered up in sunblock. Because it's the summer of Don. Exactly. Right. I was hoping you were wearing tanning oil. Bande Soleil. Oh, yeah. Bande Soleil, I remember that. The centrope tan. All right, so this is the Album Nerds podcast. We love albums, the album format. It's going to be a great show today. And it's the summer of Don. So we're going to be revisiting Sade's Diamond Life.

And we'll get into more details about this very special summer in a minute. And then Don is going to ask us a deep question. Then we're going to give some shout outs to some albums and album related items that we've been digging out there in the world. Then we're going to spin the wheel of musical discovery to find out what we'll talk about next time. But this week, in Sade. It's going to be hot. I proclaim this the summer of Donnie Lakey. That's what I'm talking about.

It's some some summer of Don some some summer of Don. Anyway, the summer of Don continues. So I went back into the archives of the album nerds before I was on the show. Came up with a list of records I want to get my two cents in about and put it on the wheel of musical discovery and keeps picking a new record each week. This week, we'll revisit the album Sade's Diamond Life, which you guys discussed on episode 90. Actually, my true Nigerian name is Kola Sade, which means crowning glory.

Sade, really. But in England, everybody goes Sade. In America, people tend to go Sade. Stupid Americans. Sade. So embarrassing. Come on. It sounds like a toilet paper bread. Yeah, we're so crass. So the album is Sade's Diamond Life. Here's the cut Smooth Operator. It's what they used to call me in high school. Because you pooped your pants. Because I didn't have to shave. I just pictured Don excusing himself from class running to the bathroom. Donald, you need a bathroom pass.

Okay, so Diamond Life is the debut studio album from English band Sade, featuring Nigerian born singer songwriter Sade Adu, along with other former members of the band Pride, including guitarist and saxophonist Stuart Matthewson, bassist Paul Denman, and keyboardist Andrew Hale. So like I said, you guys talked about this on episode 90. Seems like you enjoyed it then. What do you think about it now? No, I did enjoy it back in episode 90. I still enjoyed it today.

I thought it was a pretty solid record overall. I think the key word I keep coming back to is restraint. Restraint can be sexy. And I think Sade finds a way to make restraint sexy here. Yeah, I grew up with this album as a staple in the household. It was the first cassette that my parents ever bought after we got our cassette player and moved on from vinyl, at least temporarily. And yeah, it was kind of their romantic album. I liked the sound of it.

My little sister used to love the song Smooth Operator, if she called it. She was probably like four and had a problem with S sounds somehow. But yeah, I mean, I always enjoyed this record. It's a perfect romantic quiet storm kind of mood setter. I remember when I was a boy watching MTV waiting for the next Duran Duran video. This would come on and I would end up changing the channel. So this was not something that appealed to me when I was that young.

But as I'll explain later, I think my musical path has sort of primed me to finally embrace a record like this. So let's hear another cut. This is Cherry Pie. She's my cherry pie. Chicken whale. No more edgy than I remember. Yeah, definitely. For some reason, I don't think of like a beautiful like cherry, you know, fresh made cherry pie I picture one of those like hostess, you know, vending machine cherry pies. Pocket things. Yeah, they're wrapped up. Yeah. I just love those things, dude.

Yeah, I think it's fair to say that it does have sort of that prepackaged feel to this record, I guess. Everything feels kind of compartmentalized and kind of in their own lane, I guess you could say. But the reason I like that track, the reason I picked that track Cherry Pie there was I felt like that that track felt the most alive to me on their album. It's a little bit funkier than the most here.

And I think, you know, I think that's what I liked about that song and what maybe is missing from this record as a whole for me is just that liveliness, that energy that maybe is a little bit smoothed away on some of these tracks here. Well this is one of the few songs where it seems like it's about like it could be about her and her feelings about the thing.

The rest of it is more from a like jazz lounge singer singing the songs like Sinatra or whatever where they just perform the songs really well, but it's not about them. And this one feels a little more personal. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. No, yeah, you're right. Totally right. My clickbait headline for this album is The Diamond Life sounds bright and sparkly, but when it comes to depth and emotion, this is more of a cubit zirconia. Can you cut grass with a cubic zirconia?

I think dude's expression right now can cut some grass. It's pissed. Ouch. Yeah, I mean, I'm positive on this record overall. I did enjoy it, but does this feel a little lacking in emotion? Like you said, dude, like she just, Ado feels, Ado, dude, feels a little detached lyrically on most of these tracks, you know, really about her. I think that does kind of lead to this sort of standoffish nature to the album. And musically, it's so restrained. It's so restrained. It never really opens up.

There's a few moments where the hints that may be opening up, but never really get like that full blossom. I don't think it's supposed to. I mean, it's smooth jazz with smooth jazz vocals from a very controlled singer where her voice is kind of like one of the horns, you know. It's like part of the jazz instrumentation in some ways, you know, it all fits together. But the word here is smooth. I mean, throughout, and I think the idea is to set a mood.

Ado sets a mood and I think it's very intentional and it's pop. It's pop music. This is not like indie rock of the time or something. This was meant to be palatable. I do agree. I think it is palatable, but the risk of being palatable, you know, sometimes you sacrifice some authenticity or depth of emotion. Andy, how does this, I know you pretty much hated the Simply Red record. How does this compare to that? Because they're kind of the same.

I mean, they're similar in that way, I think that they're kind of holding back. Yeah, I guess I feel similarly about them because there were moments on the Simply Red record that I felt like they showed glimpses kind of like we see on the Sade record where they might be really cool to see live. And I have heard good things about both of those bands live that maybe would be interested to see. I feel like it's just you're kind of missing out a little bit on these albums.

I didn't hate the Simply Red. I just didn't think it was soul. I think it was soulful. It was adult contemporary and it was fine. This one I think is very soulful. It's like a quiet storm type of album. And I think it accomplishes what it set out to do. And I don't know if Simply Red knew what they were trying to accomplish other than getting on the radio again. So there's nothing wrong with that. You know, Metallica did it. Oh, one, two for that. That was for Andy. That was for Andy.

Yes. You got knocked the fuck out, man. We should do a whole episode on Andy's Metallica sellout theory. Theory or? Yeah, I'd love to litigate that case because I got charts and graphs everywhere. Pretty sure Lars Ulrich would show up at your door and you would regret your decision. Yeah, but as a lawyer, probably assuming. A fun bonus episode. Well, let's hear another cut. This is the final track on the album. This is called Why Can't We Live Together?

The thing we haven't said yet is that these songs, there are moments where they sound exotic and, you know, I think that was part of the appeal at the time. Mysterious is something I keep thinking about. Like it feels foreign, I guess, or something. Something cool about it. So Why Can't We Live Together is a cover of a song written and recorded by Timothy Thomas in 1972. I think this is a really interesting treatment, kind of slow and building.

It's actually like two minutes into the song before the vocals come in. I think it's powerful and I would say it's the only time on the album I was really moved kind of emotionally, kind of stepping out of that smooth whatever feel. Yeah, so I thought this was a well-executed cover. My clickbait headline for the album is Shaday Turns Don's Dalliance with Sophista Pop into Genuine Affection. Yeah, so I've- Dalliance, huh? That could be a lyric.

I mean, I just recently became aware of this term, sophista pop, but I think I kind of understand what it is and I think probably the Simply Red record might fit into that. Well, you just keep selling that damn thing, don't you? Yeah. Remember we did Roxy Music Avalon? Now, that was a bit more rocky and maybe closer to yacht rock, but it had the horns and it had elements of jazz and even that felt like a little restrained.

That's an album I've really started to enjoy over the last 10 or 15 years and I think I'm finally ready to appreciate this kind of music. What died inside you, Don, that lets you appreciate this? I think it's age, just getting old. Maybe it's just that you have more, like when you're a kid, you don't want an eight-course meal with a bunch of different stuff. You just want your freaking happy meal, right?

I think as you get older, there are more occasions for other sounds and exploring things that maybe are from the past that bring back memories like Don remembering turning the channel every time it came on MTV because it was for grownups. Now he's a grownup so he can check it out. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's probably just the psychological thing where I labeled it as something for old people. Now you're an old person. Yeah. Well, let's hear one more. This is Hang On To Your Love.

I love the little guitar sound there. I think it's what kind of was more the focus of their sound on future records, less so the saxophone, which is very mid-80s saxophone was in every pop record. Bruce Springsteen was using tons of saxophone then too. Everybody loves that 80s sax, man. That's right. Just got a picture of Rob Lowe in St. Elmo's Fire sweating all over everyone, blasting that sax. If I can find someone who's fool enough to let me play my sax.

Yeah, so Hang On To Your Love was one of my favorites on this record as a kid. It delivers a message of resilience and commitment and love through the trials and tribulations of a relationship. My parents had had a stumbling block in theirs around the time they got this record. It symbolized to me as a kid, things getting back to normal and stuff, I think. I think I have some emotional ties to this album that make Andy's zirconia comments particularly hurtful.

I just just like to see the love of your parents. I'm grateful that this record served them. This is when they said, why can't we live together? My clickbait headline, Sade's Diamond Life will seduce your soul. Smooth jazz and sultry vocals that create a quiet storm of musical chemistry. I think the chemistry of this band is important. The band is called Sade as is the singer. I think that's often a problem with some of these groups that choose someone's name as the name of their band.

The rest of the guys get kind of lost in the mix, but the same core lineup has been with her the entire time. Every record they've recorded has been a collaboration and they worked in that band, Pride together. They've been working together for decades and they have honed this sound that is uniquely theirs. I just think it's important to point that out and be aware when Ordinary Love and other songs you might know from future releases, this is the same group of people.

It's not just her with a house band coming up with whatever the flavor of the day producers and writers have come up with. This is their stuff through and through. So I just think that's important to know. Yeah. They play very well together. I mean, I have to give a shout out to Stuart on the saxophone there, man. He freaking, he does kick some ass. Yep. He's a guitarist too. I play guitar too. Oh, wow. There's a few moments on here that are really great, great sax solos and very impressive.

Some good bass sounds too. Yes. Don loves his bass. Slap it a bass. The whole album is sensual and cerebral. There are some thinking, some moments of thinking, lyrics and songs that are not just about romance, but like Frankie's first affair. I think you can figure out what that's about.

When am I going to make a living about trying to make, I think probably as artists at the time, but the struggle of making ends meet and when am I going to have my break or when are things going to go right for me? That track really, I think rang true more so than most tracks on the album for me. I could actually really feel the desperation in your voice. Yeah. So there is more to this than just sultry, slow jam stuff. Although it's got all the sultry you need for a pleasant evening.

Just kind of interesting deadpan delivery sometimes. It's kind of flat. Yeah, but it works. You know that song, the girl from Ipanema? The way she just sort of has that kind of deadpan delivery too. Although obviously Sade is a much better singer than whoever that was. Yeah. And that control, there's a lot of vocal control as Andy kind of alluded to as well, but I think it's part of setting the mood of not over emoting at times. That's kind of a vocal jazz thing.

Yeah. Yeah. It's part of being cool, man. You don't want to show too much emotion. Keep it under wraps. Yeah, that's right. So this is the Summer of Dawn and we are talking about records that you guys talked about before that I didn't have a chance to discuss. And so I am glad that we got to this one because Sade is a name that I always hear people talk about the Sade records and how great they are. It seemed like something I needed to spend some time with, just much ado about ado. Anyway.

Okay, so the record was Sade with Diamond Life from 1984.

Excuse me. I'd like to ask you a few questions. It's time again for Deep Questions by Dawn. So a smooth operator, I guess can be a person who manipulates others through a calm, charming and persuasive manner. Have you ever been charmed into doing something you later regret? It's a dangerous question. Yeah, I know, right? Yeah, I mean, for me, I feel like this happens a lot.

I mean, like I'm tough over like email or a messenger or something digital, but like in person, like I will just like roll over immediately if you suggest something, you're probably contradictory what I was thinking. That's why I miss being near you physically because I used to manipulate you in all sorts of ways. Make that eye contact and Andy's like, sure. Yeah, if you come to my door and try and sell me something, I will probably end up buying it.

But try to email me about it and I will send you a nasty letter. Nasty. Yeah, how about you, dude? Well, I was thinking more of a time when I didn't go through with it, but I was really close. Wow. I had some challenges in college where perhaps I was a little more social than I should have been and there was a period where I was deciding if I was going to go back to school, go get a job and I was struggling to find a job. So I visited a Navy recruiter. Oh my gosh. I just wanted some information.

I just wanted a pamphlet. Three or four hours later, I've got a piece of paper in front of me. Just sign here. Pen in hand. Oh my gosh. This dude, I don't know what Dreamweaver stuff this man was pulling. They do great work. These recruiters do their jobs and they do them well. But I was so close and I decided I wanted to just go outside and think about it for a second.

And when I was out there, he was like looking through the window and I just left and got in my car and I'm like, I can always go back. Y'all know me. I am not a soldier. Wow. Can you imagine what you would have been like today if you had signed up? I don't think it would have been good for the country. This is about the US of A and it wouldn't, I think they would have been making a mistake by bringing me in.

So for me, well, a couple of years ago, a charming fella convinced me to do this podcast. Yes. Oh, Jesus. Wow. Sorry that happened to you. Yeah, you should start a support group. There's one other guy that was briefly a member of the team. The Pete Best. You and Scott could commiserate. That's right. I'm actually, I'm a lot like Andy and we get these, people come to our door and they want to replace our windows and replace our roofs.

So I'm just so bad at saying no, particularly when the people are kind of nice and you know that, I mean, I must just suck having to go door to door. Terrible job. Yeah. So I always feel bad about it. So now I lie and I say that we're moving. That works. That's a good excuse. Yeah. It's like my grandma died of excuses, but for house home repairs. Yeah. Yeah, you just got to hope that the churn at these places brings a new salesperson in the next cycle. I thought you were moving.

You just put on a mustache. You're like, oh no, not Donalds, I'm Ronalds. Yeah, well, what have you been charmed into doing that you later regret? Let us know. Visit us on the socials, Facebook, Instagram threads, and also on our website, albumnerds.com. Can you dig it?

Can you dig it? Can you dig it? Well, it was a smooth and sultry week for all of us listening to the Sade record, but did you have a chance to check out anything else? Oh, you know I did, man. I got my little man purse over here filled with delicious new releases. Let's check some out. First one up is from a group called Lalaz. Laluz. Laluz. Laluz. Yeah, they're from Seattle, so I don't know. Lalaz. Laluz. The album is called News of the Universe.

So they're a four piece from Seattle, Washington, kind of like a surf rock adjacent vibe. This is a... It's a kind of sad surf rock. It's got to be, right? You know, a little dreary. Yeah. Yeah, first single is called Strange World. Ooh, I like it. I guess I was expecting fellas for some reason. I think they're all ladies, if I recall correctly. Oh, cool. Some nice buffalo harmonies there. I bet their swimsuits are all black. Yeah. Maybe they're made out of flannel.

Nice. All right, the next one up for me is a South Korean girl group known as Aespa, I think is how you would say it. A-E-S-P-A. The album is entitled Armageddon, the first album. I don't think this is their debut, but blowing up quite a bit, the big single is called Super Beautiful. Sounds like the Spice Girls. Yeah, I mean, we got that far, huh? They called this a combination of like, kind of like, futurized hip hop slash pop, hyper pop, just FYI. This is very Spice Girls.

But they're Korean, so it's different. Right, the Spices are slightly different. That's right. They're like barbecues. Yes. All right, last one for me is from Argentina. Her artist name is Nathy Poloso. Man of the world over here. Yeah, well, who the place? The album is called Grasa, which means Greece, I looked up. Greece is the word. That's right, yeah. Grasa the word. Got to do it, don't you? Yeah, this is definitely more Andy's type of thing than the old Duder. It's a very diverse record.

There's definitely like hip hop elements, but there's more traditional like Latin music as well. She produced an entire movie for the album. Every moment of it has a musical video component, which I thought was pretty cool. What you been digging on down? Well, a group that I remember back in the 90s, Big Head Todd and the Monsters has a new album. I always figured like if they lost their lead singer, I could step in. Big Head Don and the Monsters. Anyway, their new album is called Her Way Out.

This is the title track. Sounded about the same as they did before. It's kind of a bluesy rock band, I guess. Yeah, that's cool. They're from Colorado. I remember them, I think the first time I heard of them was they were on that Horde tour with like Blues Traveler and Spin Doctors. They have like a big single from that period. The one I know best is probably Bittersweet. Yeah. Bittersweet, blub, blub, blub, Bittersweet. Oh yeah. Exactly. Another one, I went international as well.

An artist called or known as Winter Aid. It's actually an Irish musician named Shane Colady. This is an album called Pull the Sky Inside. This is a song called Silk. Yeah, sounds about right. Yeah, it's pretty kind of moody and a little weird. Very long album. It's a little too long. It's about an hour, but interesting. There's definitely a potential there.

And then I just wanted to mention I got around to watching a documentary from 2008 called The Wrecking Crew, which is about that group of LA session musicians from the 1960s that played with Phil Spector and Brian Wilson. It was actually made by the son of the guitarist from The Wrecking Crew, Tommy Tedesco. But it's just amazing how many records these people played on. And they played with the Monkeys and stuff like that. And they didn't always get credit on the sleeve notes. Right.

But those guys got some good stories to share, I would imagine. Yeah. Some classic artists. Yeah, it's definitely worth checking out. I think you can find it on Hulu. Cool. Hulu. How about you, dude? So a band I've just generally been digging a lot in the last couple of years is Bastardane. And their second album was just released called Catatonic Symphony. It's sludgy, groovy, heavy music with clean vocals and good energy. This is a little bit of Masquerade.

On this one, they do seem to experiment a little more from track to track. A lot of different sounds, a lot of different styles. And they seem to do them all very well. I've been really digging this. It feels a little more conceptual, this album, than the previous one, which I appreciate. It's cool. Yeah. We talked about the first record, right? Correct. Yes, we did. On episode dot dot dot. I don't remember which one. Yeah. Yeah. You're too, again. I'd say there was some growth here.

That's what I'm always looking for in young bands. Speaking of young bands, there's this new band called The Props. They just have singles released at this point. This is a little bit of Get Off from the Echoes Get Off single. The vocalist is Nick Reese, formerly of Joyous Wolf, who I was really into. More of a blues rock band that was really close to breaking and then the pandemic happened. Yeah. One of the Wolf bands. Yes. They had some creative differences.

I think Nick wanted to be more poppy and this is his new band where that seems to be happening. I'm looking forward to the album. Interesting. Then, of course, album acquisition for the vinyl collection. Mastodon's Leviathan. We'll play a little bit of Blood and Thunder. I got a used copy for like 18 bucks. Blue vinyl. My favorite Mastodon album, inspired by Herman Melville's Moby Dick, progressive metal, sludge, intricate riffs, great storytelling. I had to pick this.

I told myself I was only going to buy one record when I was at the store. It was this or the 1971 original release of Electric Warrior by T-Rex, which I thought I might be able to find again more easily than this. Tough choice. So you really only bought the one? I did. I got a huge truck repair I got to pay for and a move and stuff, so I'm trying to tighten the belt. You know what Moby Dick's father's name was? Papa Boner. I don't think that's true. All right. Yes. All right.

So what are you digging? Let us know. You can find us on the socials, Facebook, Instagram, and threads, also on our website, albumnerds.com. It will be a discovery of extraordinary value. Well, it's about that time on the show and I'm reminded of the great Indian yoga guru and author, B.K.S. Yengar, who said famously, the hardness of a diamond is part of its usefulness, but its true value is in the light that shines through it. Beautiful.

With that in mind, let's bring out my friend and yours, Wildbot, to see what we'll be discovering on next week's episode. The summer of dawn continues. With that in mind, I will be choosing which albums from Dawn's curated list you will be exploring this summer. Next time, prepare yourselves to get your grungy flannel shirts out of storage. You will be discussing Pearl Jam's 1991 debut album, Ten. Shit. I don't want to talk about this. Yeah. You want to try it? Pearl Jam and not the new album.

No. Very old. So yeah, Ten. It's a landmark. I know what Andy thinks about it, but I don't think I really know what grownup Dawn thinks about it. That'd be interesting. Yeah. All right. Well, don't forget, you can suggest topics for the wheel on our website, albumnerds.com, as well as vote for any ongoing Album Nerds Hall of Fame nominations. What do you think of Pearl Jam Ten? What else are you listening to? Leave a comment on our website or email us at podcast at albumnerds.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and threads at albumnerds. So please subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite podcast app. And if you'd like to support the show, you can do so via PayPal at albumnerds.com slash support. Thank you so much for joining us on the Album Nerds podcast. We'll catch you next time with Pearl Jam Ten. Yes. So, dude, what? Thanks for listening, buddy. Catch you next time. And all I told her was everything. Oh, yeah. I'm going to go to bed.

I'm going to go to bed. I'm going to go to bed. I'm going to go to bed. I'm going to go to bed. I'm going to go to bed. I'm going to go to bed. I'm going to go to bed. Little spit on that one, huh? Yes. That was juicy. I'm starting a drool. I thought you're going to do Jeremy. What song is that? That's Jeremy. Lemon yellow song. You sound like Scott Stapp doing Pearl Jam. Yeah. Not too far in. Watch it. Oh, boy. yellow sun all's green Do you sound like Scott Staff doing

Not too far enough. Watch it. Oh boy.